New York, NY —

The city's ethnic retail enclaves are booming, but deserve more economic support. That's according to the Center for an Urban Future.

REPORTER: The non-profit finds neighborhoods like Washington Heights and Brighton Beach have business and employment growth several times the city average. The Center's Jonathan Bowles says these areas draw second and third generation immigrants from Connecticut, New Jersey and beyond.

BOWLES: A lot of times, people are coming back to a place like Jackson Heights or Flushing, to visit family, to visit friends, to go to a house of worship. And along the way, they are buying herbal medicine, or boxes of mangoes or jewelry.

REPORTER: Bowles says more of these neighborhoods need Business Improvement Districts, as well as parking for suburban drivers. Calls to the city's Economic Development Corporation were not immediately returned.